When I went into my music room this morning I could still smell the perfume worn by yesterday's 3 pm pupil. It's wasn't a pleasant smell even when fresh. It's not normally an issue with this particular pupil, as she is a 12, nearly 13 year old who usually comes straight from school (schools were still shut yesterday), but I also have an adult who wears perfume - again, an afternoon pupil, so the smell lingers for ages. Fortunately she comes fortnightly, so I don't get it too often. I think I'm going to have to mention it tactfully somehow - perhaps in my next Newsletter. Does anyone else have this problem?

Sympathies Sue. I did have one - a lady who came in the morning and whose perfume I found overpowering and not particularly nice. Fortunately it didn't linger more than an hour or two - and she doesn't come any more so that solved itself.

Sometimes when I go back into the room after someone has gone, what I get is a faint trace of fabric conditioner from a child's clothes - which is generally fresh, much more pleasant, and tends not to linger.

I can't remember ever having that problem - mine is more to do with less pleasant smells at the end of a teaching session - mostly students who smell of what they've had for their tea, which often seems to be Chinese food !!
I keep a nice vanilla room spray in my room for this reason!

I really like the smell of freshly-washed clothes on children! (Is that weird?? )

I've had a few teenagers with body odour at the school where I teach. Not sure what to do about that one, other than open a window. Can't exactly send them away to have a bath...

I had an adult who wore perfume - it was a little overpowering while she was here, but left a slightly exotic fragrance in my room for a while afterwards. It was not unpleasant, but I was not brave enough to ask what it was. (My room does not usually have an exotic smell! I strive for no smell at all!)

A large teenage boy used to come wafting strong smells of freshly applied deodorant - I almost felt like saying please don't apply too much, just wash - that'll be fine. But it seems to be a thing that some teenage boys do because my son now does it!

Then at the other end of the spectrum I have some small (5/6 year old) boys who are aromatic in other ways and that makes me glad not to teach a whole class of them!

I once went for a job and was told I couldn't wear perfume as one of the office workers was allergic to it.... perhaps you could send out a letter saying you've been suffering with allergies/headaches and it would help if you didn't come into contact with strong perfumes/aftershaves? Or to be really cheeky say your doctor has recommended avoiding them! I would have thought these days people would accept that quite readily.

Sounds like a plan!

On a slightly different point, I was in the pub (a very small room in a pub) on Sunday evening waiting for my friend. A guy sitting at the next table was being generally quite anti-social (roaring at the top of his voice, leaving his large bag in the middle of the floor so everyone had to hop over it) when suddenly he stood up and took out his can of Lynx! His friends told him it wasn't really on so he held the bottle in mid-air and sprayed continuously for about a minute! The word that was going through my head is not printable here....

Yes, I have had several heavy bouts of after-shave from one student and clingy perfume from ladies. Yuck. Really dislike it and find it rather inappropriate and disrespectful. . .but then I'm easily riled!!

This sounds very sensible.

One of my female pupils used to wear very strong perfume. I gently asked her not to apply so much before her lessons as I found it an irritant, and she readily agreed. No offence was taken, and she still comes for regular lessons, but without nearly so much perfume.

One slightly more tricky one was one who stank of garlic. It wasn't too bad when I stood next to her but, re-enter the music room 5 minutes after she had left, and the air was pungent. The only answer to this I could find was to purchase a can of air-freshener and apply it liberally.

I wonder how many people who have written something on here are blissfully unaware of how they pong?

Maybe there is a whiff of dog/cat in the house that the pupils are too polite to mention; and I can't quite see how wearing strong perfume is disrespectful.

In my work I encounter people who feel sick/dizzy (and that is before I have had my clutches on them) so take care not to wear anything strong smelling on that day, because anything might set them off!

At least no one has complained about clients coming in kippered with cigarette smoke (an issue yesterday for me!) but of course any mention of a client's personal hygiene, dirty clothing/hair or other nasties is completely off limits. I suppose the difference is these are not being admitted to my home.

The worst I ever had to contend with when teaching piano from home was a child's cheesy feet. And you can always open a window afterwards.

I wear perfume to my lessons but it's intended to be the opposite to disrespectful! Although I don't normally wear perfume around the office, I generally wear it to client meetings, or if I'm meeting anyone else special during the day. Particularly when I have a lesson straight from work, I'm conscious that I'm not as daisy-fresh as I was in the morning, so it's actually a mark of respect to try to ensure that the teacher gets a nice smell rather than anything less savoury! I feel as if I'm in very close confinement with the teacher, particularly when you're sharing a piano stool, and I'd feel terrible if I didn't smell nice! I do try not to put too much on though, and not to put it on immediately before going in. This thread has made me wonder now!

When I did my PGCE, there was a policy in one of the schools where I taught for a term of having all the children remove their shoes when entering the music room, due to a slightly muddy lane leading from the main school building to the music centre.

The odour of 30+ pairs of children's smelly feet in a small classroom was nauseating and I loathed that particular term of teaching practice due to that, and due to the school being a fairly grotty one where most of the most-able students had been creamed off by the local grammar school.

Didn't their parents ever make their children shower or bathe?

Speaking as someone who is allergic to a lot of perfumes etc I would have to ask nicely for someone who regularly wore a perfume I reacted to to not wear it. Then again most people I come into contact with wearing such fragrances notice the wheesing and sneezing coming from me and don't take offence. Lynx bodysprays, air fresheners and expensive perfumes all cause issues. The only time I've had real problems was with a heavy smoker at work who left me coughing constantly when he was in the room and denied he smelt of smoke. One of the few positives of the low wages where I work is that he can't afford the ciggarettes any more so is down to 1 or 2 a day.

To add to my previous comment, I no longer wear perfume because it aggravates my daughter's asthma - a bit like CJB describes. If you are going to mention it, I think it might be diplomatic to put it down to allergic response/medical issues.

Having suffered thyroid problems for many years I have been obliged to add to my Ts and Cs a request that students coming to my home try to remember not to wear perfume. Some perfumes contain endocrine-disrupters, as do other products such as some laundry liquids. It's obviously not possible to avoid these things entirely, but at least this way I can prevent that overwhelming onslaught from an adult or teenager who has, with the best of intentions, doused her- or himself with perfume/after-shave etc before leaving home. It is also much more pleasant for me as I sometimes feel slightly sick when the 'after-smell' sets in and this can linger up to 3 days. The alternative is to let out all the heat I have built up in the teaching room. For my own part I make sure I wash before teaching. I suppose that is one advantage of teaching from home. For anyone interested, there is plenty of information, for instance on Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace websites, about toxic chemicals in household products, eg http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/norw...-de-toxines.pdf.

Further to this, I used to work with someone who had really bad BO. My dad, ever the sensitive soul, suggested to broach the subject the best way was to whisper 'beeeeeeeee ooooooohhhhh' in his ear. Needless to say I didn;t take his advice!!

i know a person unfortunatly, who baths about ones a fortnight, he has longish hair, that after about 2 days looks like hes washed it... in vaseline. His teeth are brown

I have two male students who wear aftershave, and the people who follow them suffer with reactions, as do I. This afternoon one lady became very wheezy (she suffers from asthma) and her singing really suffered. I just get a thumping headache. I now have to find a tactful way of asking them to desist.

I think I am actually quite sensitive on any kind of odour, be it BO, garlic or perfume, but still:

I never really found this a problem. I just open the window after each student (5 minutes draught clears any smell, so you just have to open 2 rooms at the opposite end of the flat at the same time, in my case kitchen and living room - putting the window on tilt or just opening it a tiny bit on the other hand does nothing), and still my teaching space is never below 20 degrees.
This type of airing does not let "the heat out", since it actually does NOT cool off the walls (unlike windows on tilt), but just lets in fresh air. The heating/radiator actually works better in fresh, unsaturated air that slowly takes in moisture again. If you leave the windows closed for more than roundabout 5 hours (depending on your type of insulation and how many people are in the room of course), the air is usually getting close to being saturated, so the excess moisture starts creeping on and later into your walls.
I absolutely dread those overly warm, stuffy houses that don't see an open window all day (and the people living in there usually don't notice it when they have been in them all day, but the visitor immediately does), that's worse than any perfume ...

If the sensitivity towards certain smells is down to allergy or something similar, it is of course a different matter ...

There do seem to be an awful lot of allergies these days! I had no idea you could come out with a lurgy just by following someone who's had a blast of cologne. It's a wonder people are not flaking out in the street.

Perhaps we should all go back to the sweaty old 1950s - whiffy, but unlikely to put anyone in hospital.

It's bad enough trying to find a product that smells reasonable and does it's job, without worrying about whether
it is likely to land you in court with a suit for Actual Bodily harm.


* ducks *

Completely with you mel, also with your other post. Who knows what our students think of us if we just had our tea or coffee break before they come in and didn't use mouthwash or a toothbrush after that? Although I have to admit that I have a young student who reacts on strong perfumes etc. with asthma attacks. But apart from these genuine cases, I always think that if you work with people, you have to put up with their smells to a certain extent, it's a fact of life (unless it is really so bad that it makes you gag )
But then again, I worked on stage and with a fair amount of dancers for years, so maybe, although I am sensitive on the smell, I am just used to making a brave face if someone smells. I mean, not that performers generally stink or something , but physical work and nerves (!) do not always smell like roses ...

*also ducks*

The smokers are the worst. The smell lingers for hours after they've gone. I have to open all the windows for a hour after they've gone. Even in this weather. That's the smell coming off their clothes (and hair?) - I guess they have their last smoke in the car before they ring the door bell. I can put up with perfume and BO.

Apologies if I've missed something here but if you're taking peoples' money for lessons, you can't ask them not to wear perfume, just because you don't like the smell, surely...?

As I say, perhaps I have missed something about a medical condition, but if it's simply because you don't like the whiff...could you open a window, spray something more pleasant around when they've gone, anything...? If I was a parent, parting with my hard-earned cash for lessons and I got that home in a newsletter I'd be more than a bit bemused.

If I've had a busy day at work and am worried that I pong, I'd sooner douse myself with perfume than inflict my end-of-the-day sweaty smell on my teacher. Feel sure she'd prefer a blast of Clarins! I really can't see how it's 'disrespectful' to wear perfume either...

Thank you for all your answers. There are obviously much worse odours than perfume, so I'll thank my lucky stars that I don't have some of the others that you mention ......... I don't have a window to open in this room, but I do have double doors to the conservatory and I leave these and the door to the rest of the house open so that the fragrance can disperse, but it doesn't always clear it. I don't like using sprays as they may contain harmful chemicals.
Jatzaya, as a fellow thyroid inbalance sufferer I was interested in the fact that some perfumes contain endocrine disrupters. What effect does this have? I have to admit that I have felt neither sleepy nor hyperactive after my perfumed visitors!
Mel2, you have a good point regarding how your own home smells to visitors. My cello teacher used to have an elderly dog, and I was always aware of the doggy smell when I first went in, but found that I soon ceased to notice it. She now has a young puppy, and he doesn't smell at all. We have a cat, and I don't think she smells ....

I have a man who usually wears very strong, manly deodorant, but I imagine it's better than the smell of BO he would probably bring otherwise.

As for perfume, I'm quite partial to a bit of Jean Paul Gaultier so I'd be a hypocrite if I complained about my student's perfume.

I DO open the windows after the most extreme case after he has gone and leave one open for the whole of the lesson afterwards (an hour). Even so, the student after that arrives and pulls a face. An hour later hubby comes home and starts coughing. And I have my headache... Any fresh air spray merely compounds the problem.
I'm not talking about a light - normal - use of perfume/aftershave - but excessive use.
I must stress that this is rare. Well, a rare student, - with him it's every lesson.

Lots of my students wear perfume and it doesn't bother me in the slightest. What does bother me a bit is the strange smell emitting from some of the teenage boys I teach - not very pleasant. But you can hardly say anything, can you? How about 'Er, are you sure you wash daily?' or 'When was the last time you had a bath, son?' Or how about 'blimey, you stink!' or 'What a pong ever since you walked in the room!'



Yes you are aren't you?!? I really can't see how perfume on women can be disrespectful - after all they could have doused themselves with it because they were beginning to get a bit sweaty but didn't have access to a sink, soap and a towel so given themselves a quick spray of perfume instead in an attempt to be respectful to you!

I thought this was going to be about different perfumes....

quote name='Mezzo1974' date='Feb 4 2009, 09:12 PM' post='788257']
This type of airing does not let "the heat out", since it actually does NOT cool off the walls (unlike windows on tilt), but just lets in fresh air.
[/quote]

I think it does let the heat out, it certainly feels like it!!! I had the heating on in my flat this morning and it made the air warm, but i think the walls still felt cold. If i opened the windows i'm sure it would let the heat out..

I wonder if it is a particular compound that upsets some people?

Most perfumes don't bother me much but I remember being given one, and I can't remember what it was - it might have been Christian Dior 's Addict (and there was a Clinique one whose name escapes me) which was the olfactory equivalent of an H-bomb. if you sprayed it on directly it never wore off - the only way to use it was to spray it in the air and 'walk into' it, if you see what I mean.

Maybe the fumey lady was wearing one of those at full strength.

I wonder if it is a particular compound that upsets some people?

I have wondered that. Certainly the smell of musk makes me feel really ill ...

Well I'm in the business of perfumery chemicals, though its small part of my company's business.
Perfumes/Personal products are very complicated mixtures of both natural products and synthetic chemicals.
Household products tend to have\more simple fragrances added.
It is true that some chemicals in particular can cause allergies etc. One group in which I am involved are chemicals which come from the pine tree. These can sensitise some people. In household products pine oils are very common of course, but there are some other small , higher value chemicals which are extracted from pine sources which are used in personal products as well.

Perfumery is a very interesting subject.

If anybody is interested I recommend reading Luca Turin's The Secret of Scent and Perfume: The Guide. Both are easily obtainable from the library.

I happen to love perfume. Then again, I do have personal favourites and do intensely dislike some perfumes.

The power of smell....

Perfume causes me to have an asthma attack. It's mild: tight throat, coughing fit, but very unpleasant and embarrassing. I can't play properly because of it.

And I have real problems at concert venues, because I am liable to get a coughing attack, and if I feel trapped, which one tends to do in the middle of a block of seats, it's worse.

And I haven't found a way of suggesting to people they don't wear perfume, although my flute teacher seems to have desisted wearing his very strong cologne after he apologised for the very pungent pot pourri on his table once and I mentioned I had a reaction to it.

Strong perfume gives me real nausea. I once asked a small girl to stop using it and she said in great suprise
"Oh, don't you like it?" I didn't, but I would probably just have aired the room if it had only been a question of disliking but it was more than that. I've had the same problem at concerts and in the cinema.

Because of the climate here there are frequent oubreaks of hair nits. One of the products used to combat this really makes me feel bad but I have to grin and bear it as I suppose it's better than the nits!

I think people are being a bit harsh with regard to their teenage pupils here. Wanting to say things like "do you wash daily?" is rather rude, to be honest, as you've got to take into account the changes that happen in teenagers bodies do affect glands that can induce different smells. There was one person I knew who used to have to use deodorant a couple of times a day during the age of 13-15 despite washing properly just as often as everyone does and was open about it. At that age, it often can't be helped; I went through a similar stage myself (although thankfully not for as long).

I have a son who has just gone through that stage: daily showers and changes of clothing didn't help. It's a nightmare for the person concerned because there is absolutely nothing you can do about it except wait for the hormones to settle down again.

[quote name='Suepea' date='Feb 4 2009, 11:49 PM' post='788324']

Jatzaya, as a fellow thyroid inbalance sufferer I was interested in the fact that some perfumes contain endocrine disrupters. What effect does this have? I have to admit that I have felt neither sleepy nor hyperactive after my perfumed visitors!


Awfully sorry Suepea - I haven't been around. please do PM me if you like.


J